In 2022, the United States faced a shortage of oil, which negatively affected the lives of millions of American citizens as gas prices nationally increased. Now, in 2023, the Biden administration passed the Willow project, which promises to combat this issue. However, it has been subject to a vast amount of criticism, as activists, predominantly on social media, speak out against its potential negative environmental impacts. At the same time, many people uphold it, stating that it will produce a multitude of benefits for the country, and that the climate change aspect can be overlooked.

The issue itself, however, is not so black and white. While it has the potential to bring extreme benefits, it also may cause irreversible damage to our planet Earth.

The Willow Project is a product of ConocoPhillips, a company based on oil production and exploration. The project would be a massive oil drilling project on Alaska’s North Slope in the National Petroleum Reserve, a location that is estimated to produce around 600 million tons of oil.

There are, in fact, a few positives that the project can bring. Most obviously, it would make oil prices cheaper and allow the US government to be less dependent on foreign powers such as Russia for our oil. It would also create around 2,500 jobs and raise billions of dollars for the state and the country. On a smaller scale, it would help support the local Alaskan Natives who live around the oil-drilling sites, funding their health care and education.

Though these benefits would be helpful in the present day, the long-term effects heavily outweigh the short-term ones. According to CNN, the administration itself estimates that the project could produce up to 9.2 million metric tons of planet-warning pollution every year. It also poses a threat to local wildlife and ecosystems, endangering already vulnerable species such as polar bears.

The Willow project was first approved by the Trump administration in 2020, but the decision was reversed in 2021 by a federal judge who stated that it lacked environmental planning. When it was once again introduced earlier this year, immense anxiety grew throughout the nation as people awaited to see what the government's response would be.

In the meantime, activists online took a multitude of different measures to speak out against the project. #StopWillow, a movement promoting the termination of the Willow Project, particularly gained traction as posts with millions of views were posted under the hashtag. Additionally, a change.org petition titled “Biden Administration and ConocoPhillips: SAY NO TO THE WILLOW PROJECT!” gathered over 3 million signatures online.

Even with the overwhelmingly public opinion regarding the Willow project, the potential result was initially unclear, with even the CEO of ConocoPhillips, Ryan Lance, stating in an interview: “I think this could go either way and it’s all a political decision at this point.”

Now that it has been passed, its starting date is unclear to the public. Once it commences it is estimated to continue for an additional 30 years. Presently, it is facing a few legal setbacks, meaning it may be delayed for another year.

With the Willow project's approval, the credibility of President Joe Biden has been questioned by many. In the beginning of his presidency, Biden recognized the issue of climate change, even promising to stop any oil and gas drilling ventures on public lands. However, by supporting the Willow project, he has both contradicted himself and lost the approval of many of his supporters. He has yet to truly address the controversy surrounding the project, so  his followers have taken to speaking out in his comment section. Some of the most common comments include "#stopwillowproject," "STOP WILLOW," and a variety of other criticisms. 

The Willow Project as a whole is a double-edged sword – while it has the power to gain revenue and benefit America, it also will negatively impact the climate. The decision was not as simple as many believe it to be, as something needed to be done regarding the current state of oil in America; however, a project of this magnitude and amount of repercussions was not the approach we needed to take. The only truly justifiable way of passing the Willow Project was either to scale it down or find a way to reduce its immense amount of pollution. Without doing so, the country and the future of the world may just suffer the consequences.